


4 times Keith's tail was hurt and 1 time it wasn't

by EboniObsydian



Series: Myths in a Space Castle [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bruises, Gen, Keith whump, Snakes and Horses AU, Sprains, Whump, graduating levels of whump, polarspaz, unwritten cursing in japanese
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-24 02:48:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17696189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EboniObsydian/pseuds/EboniObsydian
Summary: I think the title is pretty self-explanatory.





	4 times Keith's tail was hurt and 1 time it wasn't

**Author's Note:**

  * For [polarspaz](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=polarspaz).



> I tried for a 5 + 1 but I couldn't come up with a fifth one.
> 
> This could very well be self-indulgent whumpage. There is a bit of continuity plot but it's not that important. ~~I'm so mean.~~

Keith. Was. Beat. The good kind of beat after a productive day but on the excessive side. He wasn't so much bone weary as mentally kaput.

After gaining their armor, the whole team spent the majority of the rest of the day flying and forming Voltron. They only succeeded twice with forming the giant Defender of the Universe because of new controls and having to adapt their synergy again. It was mentally draining.

Red nuzzled him from the back of his mind. She wasn't nearly as fatigued but definitely agreed to the want for a rest. After he disembarked, he considered dropping right there by her paw and sleeping. But, the hangar was cold and that nagging instinct of his, that one that really reared its ugly head after he bruised his ribs, was once again pushing at him to find someplace dark and small to hide in and rest.

His room, he determined, was too far away.

The lounge, however, was not. And as far as he knew, that custom made pillow fort in the corner was still there.

So that's where he dragged himself, yawning about every three minutes. Where was the rest of the team? He didn't know, and as far as he was concerned, he really didn't care. They had all docked and for all he knew they were sleeping inside their Lions.

He was yawning yet again while entering the lounge, bleary-eyed while scanning the corner directly to his left and finding the fort still standing. He lowered down as far as he could without ending up on his belly and slithered in, circling just enough that he could use his own tail like a pillow and despite having his armor on, after he removed his helmet and stashed it somewhere, the second he settled he was out.

It never occurred to him to double check that the entirety of himself was in the fort...

The next thing he knew he was being viciously yanked awake by a sharp, heavy pain shooting up the length of his tail to the base of his cranium. “AURGH!” His cry was jinxed with a loud vehement hiss. He yanked his tail wide, the force of it plus the width he had yanked it when drawing it closer to himself caused it to crash into the fort, knocking it all down on top of him.

“Sorry! SORRY!” Came Hunk's loud apology followed by thrumming footsteps. “I'm so sorry! I didn't see your tail there! I didn't mean to trip on it!”

Still hissing, Keith worked on extricating himself. Hunk was helping while still rambling apologies. There was a thirty or so centimeter section of his tail close to the beginning third that was throbbing in time with his pulse.

 _Stupid tail_ , he thought as he shoved pillows and cushions away from himself. _Why do I have to have such a ridiculously long appendage in the first place_? As soon as his head and arms were free, he brought his tail close to examine it. From outward appearances, it appeared unharmed, but he knew that any bruising would be hidden underneath the scales. He firmly pressed the part that was throbbing to try and ease the pain.,

“Are you okay?” Hunk asked, voice quivering like he was on the verge of tears.

Keith glared at him. “Just help me out of here,” was all he could answer. There were several other things that he thought about saying and an earlier him would have, but he wasn't at that degree of heartlessness anymore, and Hunk was honestly trying.

“You didn't come to dinner. I checked your room first but didn't find you there. To be honest, I really didn't expect to find you here in the lounge,” Hunk rambled as he moved cushions. As soon as he could, Keith slithered out and away from the pile. His helmet was still buried but he was too pissed to care at the moment. With how bad his tail hurt he should probably find some ice. He really wasn't fond of that idea because that would make him cold and even more miserable.

“I'm not hungry,” he said curtly as he left, heading towards the elevator for the Paladin rooms. Maybe he could stay warm if he left his pressure suit on?

When he finally got to his room, the throbbing had subsided to a dull nuisance. And he found three electric blankets folded up on his bunk. Did Lance put them there? No, it was most likely Coran. Lance wouldn't dare come into his room even for the briefest of moments.

Stripping out of his armor and gloves, he moved the blankets, wrapping one around himself and activating it before coiling up completely on his bed and going back to sleep.

* * *

When Keith finally decided to drag himself out of bed he groaned at what time it was; yet again he had woken up later than he usually did when human. And yet again he was uncomfortably cold.

Grumbling internally, he slid out of bed, replaced the dead electric blanket for a fresh one, folded up the spent one and with that one over one arm while he used the opposing hand to hold the one on his shoulders closed, he left his room with the intent to find Coran and have the Altean show him how to recharge the things himself.

As he was leaving his room he caught sight of a very sleepy Pidge in her usual clothes heading his way. It was obvious she was trying to stifle a yawn even from the small distance she was from him. He made a point to get as far over to the right of the hallway without rubbing against the wall so as to not be bumped into by her less-than-straight walking.

Just as she was passing him she lost the fight and yawned widely. Keith paid her no mind until she kicked the center third of his tail still coming out of his room, stumbling and losing her balance to the point that she actually **stepped** on it too. “AH-AUGH!! OW!! PIDGE!!!”

Once she regained her balance she whirled to look at him face-to-face. Before she could say anything though, Keith shouted, jinxed with a hiss, “You've got ten pairs of eyes and you can't even use one to watch where you're going!?”

She glared at him, or at least the set of her mouth indicated she was glaring at him given her visor. “Look, just because you're crabby doesn't mean you have the right to yell at me like that. I'm sorry I stepped on your stupid tail,” she said tersely before turning back around and continuing on her way. “I can't exactly switch which eyes I can see through on a dime just so you know!” she hollered a minute later.

Seething at the pain, Keith continued on his own way guessing that Coran would probably be on the bridge, the direction Pidge was coming from. He was about to ask himself what she might have been doing there but stomped that thought down hard, pissed off at how his stupid tail had been hurt again in less than twenty-four hours.

* * *

Shiro thought that training for the day would be familiarizing themselves to their new armor since yesterday was learning how to form Voltron again. This included how to use the new thrusters incorporated into everyone's redesigns.

It was set up in teams of two, Coran volunteering to be a sixth teammate for the exercise. One would test their thrusters in a low gravity setting inside the training room while the other would spot. Pidge and Shiro, Hunk and Keith, and Coran and Lance. Shiro insisted on pairing up with Pidge since they both had wings and needed to learn how to use them to balance. Coran insisted that he had experience with Altean horses and could be of the most help with Lance. That left Hunk and Keith. The former insisted that there wasn't much to learn about his jet pack and that Keith should go first.

It went as smoothly as anyone trying to balance on the air for the first time was expected.

Keith couldn't figure out how to get his tail completely off the ground even with the assisting thrusters. Lance had a malfunction with his and ended up activating his front thrusters first, forcing himself up onto his back legs. He was struggling to regain balance, even with Coran's attempted help, but the thrusters would not shut off and before anyone could even fully process what was going on, Lance backpedaled into Keith's still grounded section of tail and sat on it heavily before falling backward and landing flat on both backs just as the thrusters quit.

Several things happened; Keith choked out a scream of agony and hissing as he crashed to the ground, the wind half-knocked out of him despite the sturdiness of the armor. His hissing continued loud and strong even while he struggled for breath. Coran and Hunk were instantly tending to their charges, Hunk pulling Keith away from Lance before the centaur could cause any more damage. Shiro and Pidge ran over and divided to help, Shiro with Lance and Pidge with Keith.

Pidge immediately started scanning for injuries while Hunk worked to get Keith breathing steadily again. “Nothing is broken or bleeding internally. But there's a massive bruise developing. That is some armor that the Olkari made.”

Hunk got Keith to sit up enough for the troll to scoot behind him and pull the naga against his chest, his tail gently rolled only partially to accommodate the position. Keith didn't put up a fight, all thoughts overruled by pain.

Pidge ran off for ice packs.

When Lance finally recovered from having the wind knocked completely out of his lungs from the fall, he was instantly at Keith's side, belly down and hands hovering. “Oh quiznak, Keith! I am so sorry!”

Keith just continued to hiss as he breathed. No one could tell if it was because of the pain and thus instinctual or if he was doing it out of pure anger despite it being a freak accident.

That hissing went up several notches once Pidge placed three ice packs on the injured section of his tail after Hunk got the armor to withdraw back into its skirt form.

The room was uncomfortably silent save Keith's loud hissing.

* * *

Only when the pain died down did he stop his hissing. By that time he was colder than he had ever been on the castle ship because of the ice. As he moved to get up, Hunk assisted him, rambling questions about how could he help further.

Keith just wanted to be left alone. So he shoved Hunk aside with one hand and left for the locker rooms, a hot shower sounding heavenly. Not only were they closer than his personal shower, but he also couldn't fit in his personal shower.

Everyone watched him leave. Pidge collected the ice packs off the ground while the others looked at Shiro for what to do next. “I'll check on him in a bit. It's apparent that our armor needs adjustments and maintenance given what happened. We're done training for the day.”

In the locker room, Keith shed his armor as quick as he could, angry, hurting and a whole other myriad of emotions rolling through his mind. The shower stalls were all the same size but they were definitely wider than the one in his room. Still, he couldn't cram the entirety of his abused tail in with him. The tip of it stuck out. He supposed that would be fine, everyone should have gotten the very obvious hint that he didn't want to be followed.

Thank the universe that he didn't have to wait for hot water. He stood there underneath the spray, relishing in the heat, not giving a care to how long he would be there until he felt warm again and not giving a care about the brace around his ribs, whether or not it was waterproof.

He didn't hear Shiro enter the room. “Keith?”

“Go away, Shiro.”

“Keith, I know you want to be left alone. But, everyone wants to make sure you're okay. I want to make sure you're okay,” Shiro answered as he approached the stall that Keith was occupying. He didn't see the tip of the naga's tail and unfortunately stepped on it, the small size plus the structure of his foot and his center of gravity caused it to roll just enough to send the half-dragon off balance and onto his backside while Keith screamed bloody murder. Of all the injuries he had sustained thus far, that one was the worst! It was ten times worse than jamming a toe against something!

Keith slammed his tail against the stall walls, forcing it to climb up them even as he yanked the tip closer, shouting a string of Japanese that Shiro would have called him out on during another occasion.

“Oh no! Keith, Keith I'm sorry! I should have watched where I was stepping! I forgot how big my feet are now!” Shiro rambled as he climbed to his feet.

“...not you too, Shiro...” Keith choke underneath the spray, clutching the end of his tail close to his chest and curling up around himself as tightly as possible, not caring or even aware of the spray he was still underneath.

Shiro could tell that the naga was trying not to cry, his sharp hearing picking out the stifled sobs being drowned out by the shower. There was also a slight, mournful hiss that would have easily been mistaken for the sound of the water.

“Keith, Keith, I'm sorry.” Shiro sat himself outside of the stall, his own tail in his lap. He debated what to do for several minutes. “Do you need Coran?”

“...no...”

“Are you sure?”

“JUST... leave me alone, Shiro. Tell everyone to LEAVE ME ALONE! You're all suddenly blind!”

That stumped Shiro. “What do you mean?”

“It's it obvious?! You all suddenly forgot that I have an absurdly long tail and each and every one of you has either tripped on it, kicked it, stepped on it and even sat on it! All in less than twenty-four vargas!” Keith shouted above the thrum of the water, a loud hiss jinxing his words. “Why- why are you all suddenly so blind?” he whispered a minute later.

“Keith,” Shiro began, trying to make his voice as consoling as possible. “I'm sure they were all accidents.”

The naga remained silent. He knew that especially the one with Lance sitting on him, but that didn't make the pain go away.

“I... don't have an explanation and I'm not even going to try to come up with one because it would definitely sound like poor excuses now. We all were so aware of each other during the first movements after the transformation... I don't know why we would suddenly forget.”

Keith couldn't figure it out either.

“Talk me through the first time your tail got hurt,” Shiro requested.

“Yesterday-” Keith mumbled, “-I went to the lounge to rest instead of my room. That fort that Hunk and Lance made was still there. I fell asleep in it and next thing I know Hunk is tripping on my tail.”

“And the second time?” Shiro prompted.

“Pidge kicked it walking down the hall in the opposite direction as I was leaving my room.”

“Okay, this is a good start. Do you remember where your tail was when you fell asleep last night?”

Keith had to think about that. He thought it was in the fort with him because he was resting on it. But, then how would that explain how he knocked it down with his tail after it got hurt? “I... uh- I don't think all of it was with me in the fort... I was exhausted to the point I couldn't think straight.”

“An innocent mistake, Keith. Could have happened to anyone, with or without an absurdly long tail. People leave their feet in spots where they can get hurt, unaware of it of course.” Shiro waited a moment before asking, “And what about Pidge?”

“She was yawning before she kicked it.”

“I know for a fact that Pidge hasn't had enough sleep for the past several quintants. She's got some serious sleep debt.”

Keith frowned, remembering something. “She yelled something at me... something about not being able to switch on a dime.”

Shiro nodded even though Keith couldn't see. “I'm sure it takes a great amount of focus when it comes to choosing which set of eyes to look through, Keith. I'm sure that if she had had more sleep and wasn't distracted by yawning she wouldn't have kicked you.”

The sound of running water was the only thing that answered.

“Keith, I think what happened is that everyone is exhausted after the last couple of quintants and our usual caution and awareness of our surroundings aren't at top performance. I know that's not what you want to hear though. You want someone to blame for the pain you're feeling, especially since it has literally been one hit after the other. But, for one of those incidents, you need to take the fault for since you did leave your tail sticking out where it shouldn't have been.”

Keith huffed humorlessly at that. Yeah, Hunk tripped on his tail because he left it in the road. Hunk said so himself; he wasn't expecting Keith to be in the lounge.

“You want me to grab you anything?” Shiro asked, sensing that the conversation topic was done. “I'll tell the others that you're okay and just need some time alone.”

“A couple of towels-” Keith began timidly. “-and one of those electric blankets if you can find one.”

“Can do. And I'm taking your armor. Coran, Hunk and Pidge are going to look it over and find out what went wrong with Lance's and see if there are any possible errors in the rest. They're going to use the maintenance information the Blade left us as a reference point. If that doesn't work, we may be turning back around for Olkarion.”

Keith just hummed. The tip of his tail was burning and that feeling was spreading instead of subsiding. Uncurling, he examined it, palpating it with two fingertips; there was some swelling. Maybe a visit to Coran would be a good idea. Shiro might have inadvertently done some damage given his big feet compared to the size of the tip of his own tail.

He decided he would stay in the shower until Shiro returned before heading to the infirmary. Although, if Coran was with Hunk and Pidge like Shiro said he would be then Keith would probably be on his own. He surmised that his tail was just sprained and an ace-wrap, or Altean equivalent, would suffice. Along with a painkiller. He could find those by himself.

Probably.

* * *

Keith had been rummaging through the medical cabinets in the infirmary for only a few minutes when Allura approached. He was barely aware of the door opening to admit someone, his mind more focused on his searching than who else was in the room. Suddenly, footsteps registered in his mind and he panicked -where was his tail?

In the several seconds it took him to evaluate himself, something soft brushed over the back of this tail about 60 centimeters from the injured tip. That caused him to whirl around in shock. “Allura?”

She was kneeling next to his swollen tail, hand hovering. “May I?”

Flummoxed, he just nodded. Her lithe fingers brushed over the tender skin and scales with feather-light touches; it sent a few shivers up the length of the rest of the tail and Keith's spine. While she was examining the injury, he looked to see that the end of his tail was between the door and the work area with the counters and cabinets and whatnot. Allura could have gone around him but had chosen to step over him.

She hadn't kicked him or tripped over him like everyone else had.

“How did you know I was here?” he dared to ask when she stood back up.

“Shiro told us about stepping on you in the communal showers. Though he relayed that you insisted you were fine, I had a suspicion that you would be in here for some medicine at least.”

He looked away, suddenly shy about being caught. Self-conscious and belated, he pulled his tail closer to himself, making a point to scrunch it up away from the cabinets and counters to avoid the chance of Allura stepping on it.

She noticed the action. Standing, she headed towards a specific set of cabinets and retrieved a bottle, holding it out to Keith. “Wearing a dress, one is almost always aware of where their feet are stepping and what is in front of them, especially with a low hem. It's not advisable to get the hem caught on something and either tear or cause the person wearing the dress to trip.”

He reached for the bottle but paused. “So, that's how you avoided my tail? Even though you knew I was in here there was no way for you to know where I had it without looking. And it's not usually a habit for people to be staring at the ground all the time.”

She took his hand an pressed the bottle into it. “Well, to be honest, I was being a little more vigilant after hearing about everything else.”

He smiled at that.

“I'm not as versed in medical treatments and applications as Coran is, but I do know what a sprain looks like. Would you like some help finding some appropriate bandages? I promise I won't step on you.”

He nodded. “Thanks.” He adjusted the blanket over his shoulders while she looked in some other cabinets for a minute before finding her quarry. “I'll leave you alone now. I'm sure you can manage.”

He watched her leave, rolled bandages in his hands. Only when the door closed did he move his tail tip closer so he could wrap it. Sitting down, he got to work, hissing from the sting and throbbing. After that, he downed a couple of painkillers and put the bottle back where Allura had gotten it.

One last thought came to him. Ice, I should ice it. He frowned at the idea but knew that it would be better in the long run. Grabbing an insta-cold pack, he headed back towards his room.

He was surprised to find a plate with two steaks on it on his writing desk. There was a note to the side of it.

  

> _Keith,_
> 
> _I'm really sorry for stepping on your tail like that. I know you said you_ _were okay but I'm pretty sure that I  
>  caused some bruising if not_ _swelling at least. I know you can take care of something as menial as_ _that though_  
>  so I won't bother you.
> 
> _Hunk helped me make these. They're probably not as good as the ones_ _you make or the ones that your dad  
>  made you but I felt I needed to give_ _you some recompense. Or maybe something positive about the day to  
>  _ _offset the bad._
> 
> _Coran said to tell you that he's working on something to help you_ _during the times we spend traveling space.  
>  It's taking longer than he_ _hoped it would, however. Something about not having the right_ _materials on hand.  
>  So, while you rest -and I hope you do- Coran_ _and Hunk are taking a pod to a trade stop at a nearby moon colony._
> 
> _Lance opted to stay behind. Something about not being able to fit his_ _oversize buttocks in the cramped space of  
>  an Altean pod. And Pidge_ _is working with his armor._
> 
> _If you need me, I can be reached by the intercom._  
>  _\- Shiro_
> 
>  

There was a postscript written hastily under Shiro's signature.

  

> _I'm so sorry again for sitting on you. I know I threatened to shortly_ _after the event but I wasn't really serious.  
>  __I hope I didn't hurt you_ _too bad. I will make it up to you when you're feeling better and_ _more sociable._  
>  _\- Lance_

 

He smiled faintly. It was more internal than visually expressed. Putting the note back on the desk, he grabbed the tray and sat down on the floor in the manner that allowed him a lap, rolling his tail like before when Hunk had him leaning against his chest to breathe through the pain. Putting the ice pack on the tip, he then cut the steaks into thick strips, skewering one with the fork and tearing into it, feeling some satisfaction at the meat being ripped by his teeth. He could take out his frustration on something dead he supposed. As he ate, he noticed another note peeking out from underneath the plate. It wasn't folded like Shiro's, more like something scribbled on an index card.

  

> _Keith,_
> 
> _Lance and I rebuilt your pillow fort. Only this time we made sure_ _that it's a bit further away from the door.  
>  Pidge 'helped' by _ _supervising._  
>  _\- Hunk_

 

Seems like everyone was going out of their way to make amends in some manner. He would thank them later.

When he finished his meal, he left the tray outside his door where he knew at least one of the others would see because he also knew they would come to check up on him. Task done, he grabbed his tablet, coiled up carefully on his bunk, got himself comfortable underneath the electric blanket and started to study. It was better than doing nothing while he waited for the painkillers to kick in and being honest with himself, with the way his tail was throbbing still, he didn't really want to move any more than necessary.

**Author's Note:**

> XD
> 
> Thank you for reading.
> 
> Comments and Kudos are very much appreciated.


End file.
